Radiocesium monitoring in sediments and river water has been conducted along five rivers in Minami-Soma City during 2012–2016 to clarify the temporal changes of radiocesium contamination in these rivers. Sampling has been performed annually under normal flow conditions. Sediment and river water samples were collected from four or five sampling sites along each river. Gamma-ray measurements of sediments were performed using a low-background Ge detector and unfiltered river water was utilized to determine radiocesium concentration using a well-type Ge detector. The 137Cs concentration in sediments was highest at upstream sites and slowly decreased to downstream sites for all rivers reflecting the high radioactive contamination in the upstream area. Temporal decrease of the 137Cs concentration was observed in sediments and river water for each river. The effective half-lives were 1.3–2.1 y for sediments, and 0.9–2.1 y for river water from rivers with upstream dams. On the undammed river, the effective half-lives were 4.7 y and 3.7 y for sediment and river water, respectively. Much longer effective-half-lives might reflect the direct transfer of radiocesium from forests and plains to the river. The 137Cs concentration in riverbed was low in downstream areas, however, accumulation of 137Cs over the floodplain was observed. Rapid decrease of 137Cs contamination through rivers will put residents at ease, but high accumulation of radiocesium over floodplains should be noted for future river decontamination.

Background This book is a product of the 'Sustainable Utilisation of Diverse Forest Environmental Benefits' project. We conducted fieldwork at several sites in Gunung Halimun Salak National Park (GHSNP) from 2007-2009. Geographically, the park lies between 106º 12' 58'' E-106º 45' 50'' E and 06º 32' 14'' S-06º 55' 12'' S, (see Figure 1) and is located in three administrative districts: Bogor and Sukabumi in West Java and Lebak in the province of Banten. According to GHSNP internal reports, more than 700 species of flowering plants, belonging to 390 genera and 119 families, have been found in the park's natural forest. Plantation forests in the park were originally production forests managed by a state-owned company, but are now managed by the park authority. We made three visits to different areas including Gunung Halimun, Gunung Salak and the park's buffer zone, and collected data from 990 trees. The aim of this guide is to provide succinct information on the park's forest species, and to highlight their Sundanese vernacular names as an entry point. Initially, we recorded 142 species from 54 families, but after further consideration decided to add more species important to the area, such as commercial timber species, fruits trees and medicinal plants. In total, 500 species were included. Information given on each species comprises its Sundanese name, scientific name, family, vernacular name and geographical distribution. In most cases, the species' uses are also listed. We would like to extend our thanks to all those in the GHSNP office, particularly Ruky Umaya, Wardi Septiana and Mumu for their dedication and collaboration in field surveys throughout the project. We are also very grateful to scientists from the Biological Research Centre in the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) for their comments and reviews, including thoughts from Prof.

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